Plea offer rejected in stabbing of teen bicyclist

Teen seeks time to weigh 18-year prison term

Updated 9:10 pm, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Adeujuan Adams (Courtesy: Brian Adams)

Adeujuan Adams (Courtesy: Brian Adams)

Adeujuan Adams, 15, of Rensselaer, seen here in a photo taken recently at the Shepard Center in Atlanta, where he is undergoing therapy after a May 25 stabbing in Albany nearly severed his spinal cord.
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Adeujuan Adams, 15, of Rensselaer, seen here in a photo taken...

Mohawk Ambulance member Peter Foust moves stabbing victim Adeujuan Adams to a waiting jet under the watchful eye of his mother Stephanie Sanders where he is to be transported to a specialized hospital in Atlanta by air ambulance at the Albany International Airport in Colonie, N.Y. June 15, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union).

ALBANY — A city teenager accused of stabbing and paralyzing a 15-year-old Rensselaer youth during a bicycle robbery in the South End rejected a plea offer Tuesday that would have required him to serve 18 years in prison — but he will have nearly two weeks to change his mind.

Juan Anderson, 18, of Lark Street, known as "Killa," has until Jan. 28 to plead guilty to first-degree assault in the May 25 attack on Adeujuan Adams that nearly severed his spinal cord when he was stabbed in the neck.

Anderson faces 25 years in prison if convicted at trial of felony assault and robbery charges.

When asked on Tuesday if he wanted to accept the plea, Anderson muttered "no" under his breath. His attorney, Assistant Alternate Public Defender Elena Vaida, then quickly told County Judge Stephen Herrick she did not believe Anderson had had enough time to weigh the offer. She said Anderson believes she has been pressuring him to make a quick decision.

Herrick, not convinced, said he believed Anderson was unequivocal in rejecting the plea offer. Assistant District Attorney Eric Galarneau agreed.

But Anderson then agreed with his lawyer.

"The offer just came to me last week," the defendant told Herrick. "I just need a little more time, if that is possible."

Herrick gave him until Jan. 28 to decide and Anderson was returned to the Albany county jail.